I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

So everyone in the room simply chose to remain silent, except for Onishima, who watched the big screen with great interest. He wanted to see what kind of charm this partner of the future heir of the Miyako family possessed that could so firmly capture the heart of a monster like Amane.

The entire playground was filled with various protests, mockery, and even insults directed at Youqi.

But these voices seemed unable to reach the woman's ears; Sakayanagi Arisu stood there with a smile on her face, coldly watching the students who were filled with indignation.

After reaching its peak, the protests and insults suddenly subsided.

Even so, Arisaka Yanagi remained unmoved and stood there, and gradually the angry atmosphere on the playground began to change in an unexpected direction.

It's as amazing as a chemical change.

An unbelievable atmosphere of tension and silence permeated the entire playground.

Sakayanagi Arisu did not order anyone to shut their mouths, but everyone was frozen in place as if under some kind of spell, unable to utter a single sound.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Sakayanagi Arisu turned on the microphone, cleared her throat, and spoke in her melodious voice.

"I've already explained why Miyako won. Since you're not satisfied, I'll repeat it again. This competition wasn't about the tea ceremony, but the most basic skill: brewing tea. The evidence is that, as you can see, the competition wasn't held in a tea room. I believe that alone is enough to prove my point. Next, we'll discuss the taste and brewing speed. In terms of taste, the black tea with honey is sweet with a hint of bitterness. This bitterness perfectly balances the sweetness. Therefore, I believe that in terms of taste, Miyako's tea is significantly better than Shiina's tea, which only has a bitter taste. As for speed, I don't need to elaborate further."

After finishing her sentence, Sakayanagi Arisu looked around at the silent scene and then tapped the ground with her cane.

"Those who are not satisfied with my results, then please continue to be dissatisfied, but don't let me hear it, because all my decisions and judgments are beyond question. I am correct. If you can't understand this sentence, then please go and ask Miyako-san what it means."

"Finally, I think I just heard someone insulting me. I already find it baffling that you students are barking at people like stray dogs on the street, but I never expected that you would forget even the most basic human manners. Since your parents didn't teach you these things, then let me teach you what 'words can cause trouble' and 'manners' really mean... Disciplinary Committee, step forward!"

At Sakayanagi Arisu's command, several students wearing discipline armbands and known as discipline committee members stepped out from almost all the first and second grade classes.

The disciplinary committee members stood with their hands behind their backs, facing their respective classes, seemingly awaiting some order.

Immediately afterwards, a tall student stood in the very center of these disciplinary committee members, his fierce eyes scanning back and forth in the crowd, as if searching for a target to make an example of.

Many people were shocked when they saw the gold armband worn by the student, which indicated he was the head of the disciplinary committee.

The new head of the disciplinary committee is none other than Masahiko Miyako!!!

Even before the sports festival began, Sakayanagi Arisu had secured an important power for the Disciplinary Committee, a power that Amane had included in the initial plan to establish the committee.

That is impeachment.

If a student violates the rules twice, the disciplinary department can apply to impeach that student. Then, the class and the register will hold an anonymous vote to decide whether to expel the student. If either side receives more than 50% of the votes, the student will be forced to withdraw from school.

Finally, the student council president's signature confirms that the student can be expelled from school if there is no way to help them; this power is considerable.

This is why violence in schools has almost disappeared without a trace these days.

Even incidents of mutual insults have decreased dramatically, all thanks to Sakayanagi Arisu.

Similarly, this also cemented the disciplinary department's infamous reputation in people's minds.

Seeing that no one raised any objections, Arisu announced that the competition would continue, but the Culinary Club, as the surviving champions of the last arena, dared not compete with Amane again and chose to concede defeat.

As a result, Tianyin won all the arena challenges.

While Arisu was admiring the results of her reforms to the student council, Amane was still busy coaxing Shiina.

Amane picked up the teacup that Arisu hadn't finished drinking from and took a sip, a gesture that made the dejected Shiina slowly raise her head.

"Tianyin, if you want some, I can make you another cup..."

"It's alright, this cup will do. Hiyori, your tea ceremony skills are truly amazing. Whoever marries you will be very lucky."

Tenon's words made Shiina's face flush slightly.

"Tianyin, stop teasing me. No matter how good your tea ceremony is, you still lose to me in the end, Tianyin."

"Are you angry with Rihe?"

Hearing Shiina's defiant words, Amane moved closer to Shiina.

"Of course! I prepared so carefully for so long, and this is the result. No one would be happy, right? ... I'm sorry, I'm a little emotional... I want to be alone."

Shiina turned away dejectedly, but Amane grabbed her arm and pulled her back to her side with a little force.

"Well, I know you're unwilling to accept this, Hiyori, but don't you want to know how I won?"

Amane's words made Shiina frown slightly, because it sounded like a victor's boast. Everyone knew perfectly well why Amane had won, and there seemed to be no need to repeat it in front of her.

However, when Shiina looked at Amane's face, her heart softened, and she didn't immediately turn around and leave.

Seeing Shiina's silent attitude, Amane knew there was hope. She first finished drinking the tea in her teacup before slowly speaking.

"Hiyori, would you believe me if I said that winning a tea ceremony competition really has nothing to do with the tea itself?"

Shiina pondered Amane's question for a moment, and while it made some sense, it also had significant problems.

The reason Shiina thought it made sense was that Amane had just won the match thanks to Arisu, so the statement was naturally correct.

However, Shiina felt that a performance as flawed as Amane's made it much more difficult for Arisu to cover for her. If it weren't for the prestige of the student council and Arisu Sakayanagi, it would have been much harder to suppress the discontent of the students than it is now.

Recently, Shiina's response to Amane was to first nod, then shake her head, refusing to speak to Amane.

"Then let me ask you a different question. What do you think is the essence of the tea ceremony?"

When it came to his area of ​​expertise, Shiina could no longer remain silent. He first touched his lips and thought for a moment before speaking.

"In my opinion, the essence of the tea ceremony should be tea and water."

"What is the essence of tea?"

"The essence of tea... is to quench thirst... I understand, Tianyin, you're deliberately trying to lead me to this topic so that I'll admit that tea is for quenching thirst and then subtly shift the focus to make me admit your victory, right?"

Shiina's words directly exposed Amane's little secret, which made Amane awkwardly touch the tip of her nose.

If it were any other girl, she would probably be completely confused by Amane by now, but Shiina was unusually clear-headed and not only was she not confused by Amane, but she also managed to guess Amane's first step of the plan.

"I guessed right, didn't I? I knew you were just trying to coax me into admitting that you won by your own strength, Tianyin."

Shiina pouted. She acknowledged Amane's strength, but she was dissatisfied that she had lost her specialty this time, especially in this way.

"But I won this victory through my own strength. If you don't believe me, let me ask you again: what was the reason that the tea ceremony became popular in the first place?"

"Through drinking tea, people can gain some insights into life. Tea parties provide an opportunity for everyone to communicate, share their insights while drinking tea together. Later generations summarized the various methods of gaining insights and formulated some procedures, which eventually led to the birth of the tea ceremony."

It must be said that Shiina is quite knowledgeable about the tea ceremony, but Shiina's answer was exactly what Amane had expected. From the beginning, she had been trying to entice Shiina to say that.

"Then can I say that the essence of the tea ceremony is to promote social interaction?"

"This... should be considered as such."

Shiina hesitated a bit about Amane's statement, but she eventually agreed with it, saying that one cannot talk about the tea ceremony when drinking tea alone.

Places that emphasize tea ceremony and tea culture are usually tea gatherings, which are naturally considered social venues, or rather, tea drinking is one of the ways to socialize.

"Then what is the purpose of socializing?"

Amane continued to press for answers, and Shiina vaguely sensed that something was amiss, but couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, so he could only continue following Amane's questions.

"The purpose of socializing is, of course, to enhance relationships between people."

What happens after the relationship is strengthened?

"This……"

Shiina was finally stumped by Amane's question: from the tea ceremony to the tea party to interpersonal relationships, what comes next in improving interpersonal relationships?

Does it mean becoming good friends?

"Tenon, what do you think everyone will do after their relationship improves through the tea ceremony?"

Shiina had a sudden inspiration and threw the question back at Amane, wanting to know how Amane would answer such a tricky question.

“After strengthening the relationship, it is of course possible to exchange benefits.”

Shiina pouted as soon as she heard about benefits.

"Aren't we talking about the tea ceremony? Let's not bring in such an unpleasant word as profit."

"A spoilsport? If I remember correctly, the development of the tea ceremony has always been inseparable from social interaction and the exchange of interests, it was, it is, and it will be in the future."

"How could that be! The tea ceremony is not like that."

Shiina denied Amane's statement for the first time. However, Shiina's denial did not stop Amane from discussing the topic. The reason why Amane won with a perfunctory tea-making method but still claimed that she had been serious was that Amane showed the most essential aspects of the tea ceremony. Unfortunately, Shiina did not understand Amane's good intentions.

"If you don't believe me, let me give you an example. Suppose there is a tea master named A, a tea master named B, a tea novice named C, and a tea novice named D."

"Both C and D are accomplished in tea ceremony, with skillful techniques and their own understanding. However, no matter how many competitions they participate in, they can only reach the top four at most, which is a far cry from the first and second place. Until one day, the judges saw the two of them and did not understand why they lost. So they gave them some pointers: 'If you don't belong to any school or sect, why would others believe that your tea is delicious? Even if you learn the tea ceremony techniques of a school, as long as you haven't joined that school, people can just say that you still need to work hard and dismiss you. So if you want to achieve results, you must first have a school or sect.'"

"After receiving guidance, C and D became students of A and B respectively. A and B were both famous legends. Later, because of their seniority, they were often invited to be judges. One day, B saw A's student C at the competition venue. After learning that C had never won a championship, B gave C special treatment during the evaluation. As a result, C became a rising star in the tea ceremony in the blink of an eye. Then, in another competition where A was a judge, C met B's disciple D and gave him a championship as well. D then became another rising star in the tea ceremony."

"Next, C and D met in the same competition. The judges recognized that they were disciples of A and B and also their own fellow disciples, so they took care of them. As a result, C became the champion and D became the runner-up. Therefore, C became the master of tea ceremony, and D became a strong contender for the master of tea ceremony."

"Then the two participated in another competition. D won the championship and C won the runner-up. D became a tea master who worked hard to study tea ceremony and redeemed himself. As a result, he became as famous as C. After several such competitions, their fame grew and they eventually established their own school. The two of them became the founding masters of tea ceremony."

"As time went by, the two of them, due to their seniority, became judges and took on countless disciples. One day, C met D's disciple and, remembering their past relationship, awarded the championship to D's disciple..."

Amane looked at Shiina with a smile.

"What do you think will happen in the end?"

Shiina imagined what Amane had described, and his face turned deathly pale. If it was really as Amane said, one had to join a faction to get ahead, and then make others his competitors to become famous. In the end, the two of them would be bound together in a competitive relationship, constantly relying on the help of their seniors to compete and increase their fame. Then they would create their own faction, recruit disciples, and repeat what others had done before...

Ultimately, it will turn into a dense, intricate web of interpersonal and factional relationships, and may even form a set of default rules.

Newcomers are first assigned to a sect, then enter a process of mutual praise, and then the carefully packaged masters are pushed to the forefront and recruited by opening branch stores...

At first, the quality of the master might be acceptable, but after several generations, will the level of discerning the subtle differences in quality of tea still exist?

As long as one is familiar with the etiquette and knowledge of tea ceremony, one can manipulate the rules at will under the guise of a pretense.

So that means...

Shiina suddenly understood why Amane was so perfunctory in making tea.

The point was to use this extreme contrast to convey the message that the ultimate competition in the tea ceremony is a contest of personal connections.

Connections are arguably one of the most important components of strength, meaning that Tenon truly defeated her with strength, but this strength was no longer limited to the small competition of tea ceremony.

"Although I'm still a little unwilling, I... I think I can understand your good intentions now. Indeed, my detective novels are still more pure."

Shiina originally joined the tea ceremony club because she was drawn to the purity of the tea ceremony, but after being enlightened by Amane, she immediately understood the tricks involved.

The complaints about poor tea color, inadequate temperature control, unpleasant taste, lack of innovation, or even the tea master's poor mental state... these are common complaints heard in tea ceremony competitions, but behind them lies a power struggle that she doesn't usually see.

For Shiina, who dislikes conflict, the tea ceremony is a bit too difficult; she might as well go back to reading books.

Just when Shiina had lost all hope in the tea ceremony, Amane took Shiina's hand.

"I think it's not necessarily a bad thing that you, Hiyori, are proficient in the tea ceremony."

"Hmm? Tianyin, you've told me such a secret. Don't you want me to give up the tea ceremony?"

Shiina blinked, looking confused.

Shiina initially thought that Amane had gone to such great lengths to make her give up the tea ceremony, but it seemed that Amane's intentions were not so simple.

"Why would I advise you to give up the tea ceremony? What I mean is, I'm very familiar with this path, and if you don't mind, it would be easy for you to become a tea ceremony master too!"

Faced with the temptation of Amane, Shiina shook her head and refused almost immediately.

"If you hadn't told me so much, Tianyin, I might still have had a slight yearning to become a tea master. Maybe with your help, I would have made this goal my dream, or even actually realized it someday. But..."

Shiina's face lit up with a bright smile.

"I'm not very good at lying or acting, so I can only thank you for your kindness, Tenon. I've already decided to give up the tea ceremony and focus on my beloved mystery novels!"

Shiina clenched her little fists, ready to cheer herself up, when she realized that Amane had been holding her other hand the whole time. This made Shiina feel a little shy, and she quickly let go of her other hand.

Shiina tentatively tried to pull it out a few times, but when she couldn't, she could only reluctantly let Amane continue to hold her hand.

"Not following the path of tea ceremony doesn't stop you from liking it. Isn't it a good thing to have an extra skill?"

"No! My mind is made up, Tianyin, you can't persuade me."

"Sigh, actually I was just about to say that my grandfather really likes girls who know tea ceremony."

"Ahem, well... I've been thinking about it, and tea ceremony and such can help one gain insights into the meaning of life... I think it would be quite nice to practice occasionally."

Shiina blushed and spoke softly.

……

"Special offer! Special offer! ~ Winning black tea from the tea ceremony competition is only 200 points per cup, plus a free honey! ~"

Arisu just announced the end of the match and told everyone to disperse and rest for a while, and then waited until six o'clock to announce the final results of the sports festival.

Immediately afterwards, Nanase started selling Amane's cart, which contained black tea brewed with tea bags.

The reason why Nanase runs the business here is... entirely because Amane mentioned to Nanase that since Nanase doesn't want to earn pocket money and wants to support herself, why not help her sell various food and drinks? Amane helps her with the purchasing, and Nanase keeps all the points she earns from selling them.